Melroy Doris, the driver of the getaway car in the murder of 19-year-old Lusignan, East Coast Demerara (ECD) cosmetologist Ashmini Hariram testified on Thursday that he did not report the matter to the Police, because the man who shot and killed the woman also threatened to kill him.
Killed: Ashmini Hariram
Doris, 35, who is currently serving a five-year jail sentence for the woman’s killing after pleading guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter, was called to the witness box to testify against the murder accused Lennox Wayne, called “Two Colours”. The prosecution’s star witness maintained Wayne shot and killed the young beautician. Wayne was indicted earlier this month for the woman’s murder, which occurred on July 10, 2014, at Lusignan Railway Embankment.
Doris was arrested for the murder on September 2, 2014. According to the short facts presented in court, the young woman, also known as “Monisha Hariram”, and her cousin were walking along the Lusignan Public Road when they noticed a burgundy Toyota 212 motor car bearing registration number PRR 8370 parked along the said road. A few minutes later, a man emerged from the car, and shot Hariram in her head, before entering the vehicle which then sped off. The State, which is being represented by Attorney-at-Law Latifah Elliott, is contending that both Wayne and Doris gave detectives detailed caution statements outlining their roles in the deadly shooting.
Murder accused Lennox Wayne, called “Two Colours”
An autopsy gave Hariram’s cause of death as respiratory failure and gunshot injuries to the spine.
During his testimony, Doris, who pleaded guilty to the killing in March 2021, told the court that on July 10, 2014, he was at his Bent Street, Wortmanville, Georgetown home when two men, Gavin (only name given) and Wayne approached him. The convicted killer said that at the time he worked a taxi and Wayne hired him to transport him to Lusignan to see his girlfriend.
According to the witness, he agreed to take him to the location. He recalled that Wayne occupied the left passenger seat and that it was the two of them alone in the vehicle. As he began the journey to Lusignan, Doris added that Wayne, whom he did not know prior to the day in question, began questioning him. He recounted that when they reached Lusignan Road, he saw two girls of East Indian descent walking along the road. He said that Wayne pointed out one of them and told him that she was his girlfriend. Doris said that Wayne then told him to “pull over” and he complied, after which Wayne exited the car and walked towards the girl he had pointed out as his partner.
Loud explosion
Doris said that shortly after he heard a loud explosion which prompted him to look up the road. “I saw a motorcycle man coming to me, so I thought was the bicycle wheel went off,” he added. However, Doris told the court that he then glanced in the right-side rear-view mirror and saw someone lying on the ground in a pool of blood about 12 feet away from him. By the time he turned around, the witness recounted , Wayne was already back in the car and pointing a gun at him. According to him, the murder accused demanded he “drive the f-ing car”. Fearful for his life, Doris said he complied. He added, “So, I end up pull off and drive the car, because I was scared for my life. I drive straight down to Leopold Street [in Georgetown] because that is where he (Wayne) told me he going. After I dropped him off, he threatened me and I drive up back to Sparendaam Police Station to make a report.”
Convicted: Melroy Doris
Doris recalled that he saw a traffic officer on the road, but “I didn’t get the chance to tell him anything because he was busy and because I was confused and scared for my life.” Apart from Gavin, he said he did not tell anyone about what transpired nor did he make a Police report because Wayne threatened to kill him and his family.
During the witness’s cross-examination, Wayne’s lawyer, Ronald Daniels put to Doris that he pleaded guilty because of a plea deal he struck with the State. Doris, however, vehemently denied this, stating that he had no involvement in the crime and only pleaded guilty because he was the taxi driver.
He also denied the defence counsel’s suggestion that he was forced to implicate Wayne in the crime.
Following Doris’s testimony, the prosecution closed its case. The trial continues on Monday at 09:15h before Justice Jo Ann Barlow and a 12-member jury at the High Court in Demerara. (G1)
